Rowe's Supermarket delaying store opening

Jacksonville-based Rowe's Supermarkets is delaying the opening date of one of its stores because of problems with the building that weren't resolved until last week, a store official said Monday.

Rowe's spokesman Larry Beck declined to specify the problems, but he said the company's University Boulevard store, which store that was scheduled to open on Aug. 20, could open as early as Saturday.

Beck said the store still needs equipment that may not be delivered on time because of transportation problems caused by Hurricane Katrina.

"We're ready to go," he said. "We've got everything in place, but Rob (Rowe) wants to put his best foot forward when opening the store."

A decision about opening won't be made until this afternoon. If the store doesn't open Saturday, it would probably open early next week, Beck said.

In May, Albertson's Inc. announced the closing of its seven Jacksonville-area stores and Orange Park resident Rowe said he would buy all of them to start his own independent chain.

Rowe leased one of the stores (on San Jose Boulevard) to Publix Super Markets Inc. and planned to open six stores, two apiece on three consecutive Saturdays, starting Aug. 6.

A 43-year-old former executive with Albertson's and Winn-Dixie Stores Inc., Rowe has said he paid for the stores himself, without any financial backers.

Rowe opened supermarkets on Merrill Road and in St. Augustine on State Road 312 the first weekend in August. He then opened stores at 950 Blanding Blvd., in Orange Park, and at 5435 Blanding Blvd., near 103rd Street.

The store at 5940 Beach Blvd. (near University Boulevard) opened Aug. 20, as planned, but an inspection of the University Boulevard store (near St. Augustine Road) delayed its opening date, Beck said.

Some stores have not received all the specialty items Rowe plans to stock and the stores have experienced other minor opening glitches, but none as significant as the delayed grand opening.

No other stores are planned for the chain after the University Boulevard location opens, he said.

Rowe has been in the supermarket business 26 years. He established the PriceRite Grocery Warehouse stores for Smith's Food & Drug Centers Inc. in the mid 1990s, and then started SaveRite Grocery Warehouse for Winn-Dixie Stores in 2000.